College of San Mateo was one of a select number of California community colleges to be honored in the inaugural 2022 Excellence in Placement Awards, hosted by The Campaign for College Opportunity.

The awards celebrate and recognize colleges that implemented policy from Assembly Bill 705, which took effect in 2018 and requires community colleges to maximize the number of students that complete transfer-level coursework in English and Math within one year. The goal of the legislation was to encourage colleges to place students in transfer-level courses immediately instead of starting students in remedial courses, thus accelerating completion rates.

The inaugural award ceremony took place on Thursday, May 12, and was attended by College of San Mateo’s Acting Dean of Language Arts, Aubrey Kuan Roderick.  The initial honoree announcement occurred on Friday, April 22 via The Campaign of College Opportunity’s Instagram Live.

CSM’s Acting Dean of Language Arts, Aubrey Kuan Roderick, with representatives from The Campaign of College Opportunity and Jacqui Irwin, Assemblymember (CA District 44).

CSM’s Acting Dean of Language Arts, Aubrey Kuan Roderick, with representatives from The Campaign of College Opportunity and Jacqui Irwin, Assemblymember (CA District 44).

College of San Mateo was recognized in the following four categories in AB705 placement and success excellence: 

  • Recognition for Campuswide Transfer-Level English Enrollment, for excelling in successfully supporting 100% of their students to enroll directly into transfer-level English courses.  
  • Equity Designation: Latinx Transfer-Level English Enrollment, for successfully supporting 100% of their Latinx students to enroll directly into transfer-level English courses.  
  • Equity Designation: Black Transfer-Level English Enrollment, for successfully supporting 100% of their Black students to enroll directly into transfer-level English courses.
     
  • Equity Designation: Black Transfer-Level English Throughput, for which CSM was one of only five California community colleges to be awarded, for supporting at least 70% of black students who enrolled in a transfer-level English course to successfully complete the course within one year of their initial enrollment. CSM was recognized for supporting black students to succeed at rates equivalent to or exceeding, the student body as a whole, signifying that there was no gap for black students who were enrolled in transfer-level English courses. 

A full list of all awards, and their respective college campus recipients, can be viewed on The Campaign of College Opportunity’s 2022 Excellence in Placement Awards website.